The last 2 days have seen enormous volatility in the Saudi Riyal exchange rate, purportedly oil-related FX hedging programs as the SAR dropped to its lowest sicne Dec 2008, but the most extreme 'moves' were left to The Kingdon's top Muslim cleric. As The BBC reports [7], Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, exclaimed that Twitter is "the source of all evil and devastation". As the 12th most influential Muslim in the world, it perhaps matters that he says users were using Twitter to "promote lies, backbite and gossip and to slander Islam," but citizens of Saudi Arabia, who are some of the heaviest users of Twitter, did not appreciate his remarks, summe dup by one tweet, "People need an outlet to express themselves, to start to disclose what's hidden and drop the masks, without fear or commands, or censorship from anyone."
Handsome chap...
[8]
according to Saudi Arabia's top Muslim cleric, Twitter is "the source of all evil and devastation".
Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh, the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, made the comments on his Fatwa television show earlier this week.
"If it were used correctly, it could be of real benefit, but unfortunately it's exploited for trivial matters," he said about the social networking site.
"People are rushing to it thinking, 'It's a source of credible information' but it's a source of lies and falsehood."
As the highest religious authority in the country, Sheikh Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh holds a senior government position, advising on the law and social affairs.
He was also voted the 12th most influential Muslim in the world in a recent poll.
According to Gulf News, he said: "These are not the high morals that Muslims should have and I call upon all people to contemplate seriously what they write before they post their tweets."
However, citizens of Saudi Arabia, who are some of the heaviest users of Twitter, did not appreciate his remarks.
One of the reasons Saudis say they like using Twitter is because it allows them to discuss what they really feel.
The hashtag #WhydidTwittersucceedinSaudiArabia began trending in January, with users sharing their reasons they liked the site.
One user tweeted: "People need an outlet to express themselves, to start to disclose what's hidden and drop the masks, without fear or commands, or censorship from anyone."
Another posted: "The reason is that none of the newspapers are concerned with your worries nor do any officials care about you."
As the Riyal slides notably away from its peg to the USD - to the weakest since Dec 2008...
[9]
Though we are sure Twitter had nothing to do with that.
As Bloomberg notes, [10]
the biggest jump in long-dated USD/SAR forwards in more than three years was partly driven by increased FX hedging trades after oil prices fell, two FX and rates traders in London said.
Given Saudi Arabia’s large FX reserves, traders see no fundamental justification for these moves, and instead are seizing the opportunity to sell the forwards at elevated levels.
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